. >> some hope for talks on the fiscal cliff. with just five days until the country tumbles into automatic tax hikes and spending cuts the president has scheduled a meeting. danielle nottingham on the efforts. >> reporter: top congressional leaders are expected to meet with president obama at the white house friday. this would be the group's first face to face meeting since november 16th and a last minute chance to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. if no deal is reached taxes will go up for nearly every american and harsh spending cuts will kick in on january 1st. senators reconvened on thursday with tension spilling over on to the floor. >> speaker boehner is unwilling to negotiate. there's nothing happening. >> the phone never rang and so now here we are five days from the new year and we might finally start talking. >> reporter: senate majority lyddite harry reid skewered house speaker john boehner, charging he's more interested in his leadership position than in bipartisan legislation. >> the speaker's number one goal is to g